Thursday, August 30, 2012

Story of Rachel - Letters, Opinion

Story of Rachel - Letters, Opinion - Independent.ie
• An Israeli judge ruled on Tuesday that the state bore no responsibility for the death of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old American who was run over by a military bulldozer in 2003 as she protested the demolition of a house in Gaza belonging to a family she had come to befriend.
Pictures taken on the day Ms Corrie died show her in an orange, high-visibility jacket carrying a megaphone and blocking the path of the bulldozer and is clearly visible.
Ms Corrie was acting as a human shield to try to stop the Israeli army demolishing Palestinian homes and illegally clearing land around Rafah.
British ISM activist Tom Dale, who was standing yards away, said that it was impossible for the driver of the bulldozer not to have seen her. Photographs on the internet show she was clearly visible when she was crushed.
The Israel justice system seems incapable of behaving justly towards those it considers to be its enemies, even to non-violent protesters.
Israeli courts have submissively accepted the fiction of the government, that anyone impeding government actions is a terrorist or terrorist-enabler who gets what they deserve.
The state believes that the activity of the IDF force was within the framework of "war activity" when the Israeli army were demolishing Palestinian homes around Rafah and this could explain the results of their actions.
This verdict blames the victim based on the distorted facts that could have been written directly by state attorneys. Israel considers itself to be a democratic country, but their justice system is so compromised by their actions.
I note that Israel's far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, heralded the verdict, calling it "vindication after vilification". This speaks for itself about their justice system.
Ms Corrie was killed while non-violently protesting against the demolitions and the injustice perpetrated by the IDF in Gaza. This is not a reason to be killed.John Merren
Balrothery, Dublin 24